Spain: Political Data and Developments in 2020

The management of the Covid-19 health crisis and its socioeconomic impact are the mainfeatures of the 2020 political situation in Spain. Three decrees adopted in March and October2020 declaring a state of alarm to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic were of particularrelevance. The activation of this exceptional constitutional measure by the first coalitiongovernment in the history of Spanish democracy involved the attribution of extraordinarypowers to the executive and allowed, in particular, for the lockdown of the country invarying degrees throughout the year. Among the consequences of the state of alarm, thepostponing of regional elections in Galicia and the Basque Country and the revision of theintergovernmental scheme of governance between the state and the regions in the healthdomain stand out. In legislative terms, the adoption of the budget and an increase in theminimum income constitute two of the main results of the year. Yet,controversy between theexecutive, which is supported by a narrow majority in Parliament, and the main oppositionparties has been a dominant theme. In addition to the controversy in terms of parliamentarycontrol derived from the adoption of the third state of alarm in October for six months,with asingle revalidation by the Parliament after three months,the adoption of Basic Laws withouta large consensus, such as the new Education Law, contributed to creating a bad-temperedpolitical climate. This atmosphere has had an impact on the renewal of Constitutional organs,which continued to be blocked by the lack of agreement between the main political parties.